Colin Powell, who was secretary of state for President George W. Bush, said Hillary Clinton's claims he told her to use a private email system for official use is an attempt to blame him for her problems.

"Her people have been trying to pin it on me," Powell told People magazine. "The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did."

When asked why he thought that was so, Powell replied, "Why do you think? It doesn't bother me. But it's okay; I'm free."

It was reported last week that Clinton told the FBI that Powell had advised her to use private email except for classified communications.

Powell has admitted to using private email while in office for some communications, but never had a private server.

Representatives for Powell, in a separate statement to NBC news, said he had no recollection of the conversation with Clinton but did write to her about his use of a non-government email address.

"He did write former Secretary Clinton an email memo describing his use of his personal AOL email account for unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department," his office told NBC.

The email exchange occurred in 2009, according to The New York Times.

Both Powell and his successor in the Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice, received some classified information via personal email accounts, Reuters has reported. Clinton's additional use of a personal computer server at her home, however, broke State Department rules, an internal watchdog found.

The FBI document release to Congress has riled both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats have expressed concern over the potential for politically motivated leaks by Republicans to target Clinton less than three months before the presidential election.

Republican U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told MSNBC on Monday the documents lawmakers received "are overly redacted" and that they are asking for another version with more of the missing information so they can be made public as soon as possible.

Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state for President George W. Bush, said Hillary Clinton's claims he told her to use a private email system for official use is an attempt to blame him for her problems. "Her people have been trying to pin it on me," Powell told...